Category: Resources
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Special Purpose Vehicles: Strategic tools for investment efficiency
Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) are the workhorses of the financial structuring industry, long served as a mechanism for isolating “ringfencing” financial risk and safeguarding parent entities. Today, however, their role has evolved far beyond risk mitigation. SPVs are now central to structuring sophisticated investment strategies, streamlining capital deployment, and navigating increasingly complex regulatory landscapes. From…
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Voluntary Termination of a Cayman Islands Company
Under the Cayman Islands Companies Act (Revised), there are two principal routes to voluntarily terminate a company’s existence: Each process has distinct procedural requirements, timelines and implications. Voluntary Liquidation Voluntary liquidation is generally the suggested where a company has been conducting business on a regular basis or has assets, liabilities and / or creditors. For…
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Distribution of Dividend Payments: Returns to Shareholders
Introduction Dividend payments are a key mechanism for returning value to shareholders. In this article we take a look at general principles governing the process, applicable laws and financial determinations to be made in three jurisdictions: the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman Islands and Hong Kong. In each jurisdiction distributions by dividend are governed by…
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Opening a bank account in HK & when this is difficult
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Opening a bank account is usually one of the first items on a new company’s to do list, however, the process of establishing a corporate bank account in Hong Kong can present significant challenges, and is often more complicated than a company incorporation due to strict regulatory requirements and high compliance standards imposed on banks.…
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Understanding Pre-emption: The Essential Right for Shareholders
Introduction In the intricate world of private companies, safeguarding the investments and interests of shareholders is paramount. One such protective measure is the right of pre-emption, also known as the right of first refusal. This corporate mechanism empowers existing shareholders by granting them the opportunity to acquire shares being sold by fellow shareholders before they are…
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BVI Business Companies Annual Financial Return (AFR) – a guide (Updated)
As noted in our previous updater, amendments to the BVI Business Companies Act (Revised) came into force on 1 January 2023 introducing the requirement for BVI companies to file an annual financial return (AFR) with their registered agent. The BVI Business Companies (Financial Return) Order, 2023 (the Order) enacted in March, details (1) the form of…
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Striking off in the British Virgin Islands
Recent amendments to the BVI Companies Act (Revised) have introduced significant changes to the strike off regime and restoration process. We outline the process and implications around strike off and dissolution of BVI companies under the new regime and the temporary transitional period which is currently in force.
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Private Equity as an Asset Class
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As an administrator, we use our experience to help managers and investors alike in understanding the complexities of the private equity space. We understand that not all investors are familiar with this asset class, making it a challenging proposition to investors who are otherwise more accustomed to the liquidity, information flow and timing associated with…
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Hong Kong Companies Ordinance: Reduction of capital
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The Companies Ordinance (Cap 622) (CO) introduced a company-led court-free process for reduction of share capital in 2014. This followed in the wake of the removal of the requirement for companies to have an authorised capital, which in turn followed a trend globally of removing restrictions in the handling of company capital that has swept…
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Payroll and HR obligations for Hong Kong employers
Although Hong Kong is very business-friendly and constantly ranked among the top countries for its ease of doing business, when it comes to HR and payroll compliance, most foreign owned companies and start-up businesses find employer and employee compliance burdensome. This is often due to the limited resources available in time and funds. Hiring an…